Something that every leather lover is aware of, is that leather jackets are not just any ordinary item of clothing. They differ from the other items in a wardrobe on a variety of levels, from their look, their durability, their personality, they even smell different! The entire collection of sensations associated with leather jackets are unique. They offer something truly special to the wardrobe of those that own them. An ordinary non-leather jacket lasts between three and five years, depending on how well it’s looked after. On average, leather jackets last over twenty years, and many last much longer. They have a character about them that is homely and familiar, even their rustic fragrance evokes intimate feelings of comfort. When we visualize a ‘leather jacket’ we often see a mental image of the classic black biker jacket. Black tends to be the go-to color as historically the iconic leather jackets have always been black. But what about tan leather jackets? The tan leather jacket opens up a whole new dimension of style and appeal and is in some sense the path less taken. In this article, we want to give you some useful information about leather in general and focus on how to style a tan leather jacket.

Leather jackets come in all shapes and sizes these days. They are also an extremely versatile item of clothing. Unlike the hoodie or regular sweater which call strictly for casual wear, leather jackets can be worn casually, as overwear for your work outfit and are also a great pick for a night out with friends or a date with a lovely match. Given all the obvious positive aspects of owning a leather jacket if you don’t have one already, ask yourself this, why the hell not?

Among some of the most popular are the classic biker, the bomber jacket, racer jackets (cafe racer, moto-style) and the underrated field leather jacket. When choosing a leather jacket, there are many different types of leather to consider. Which leather should you choose? Which type of leather is the best?

Leather can be made from a variety of different animals, lambs, calves, even pigs! Each animal hide has its own unique and distinguishable qualities, with pig-hide typically being the cheapest and toughest, lambskin the softest and most sought after, and cow-hide falling somewhere in the middle. Which animal it comes from is not the only variable either, how it’s processed also makes quite the difference.

Full-grain leather is manufactured from the best part of the animal hide, leaving the end product breathable, durable and soft. This type of leather is regarded as the best you can get, and the primary reason for that is, well, it is.

Top-grain leather is recognized as the second-best to full-grain. It is the type of leather most commonly used to make handbags and other accessories of that type. This type of leather is still a great choice and works well if you are trying to strike a balance between cost and quality.

Genuine Leather is a bit misleading by name. While it is genuinely real leather it is generally made from the left-over scraps of the better-quality leathers.

Corrected Leather being the lowest quality leather on the market, it often comes out of the manufacturing process imperfect and requires an additional modification to look the part. There is a noticeable difference in the look and feel of this type compared to its higher-grade counterparts.

Tan leather jackets maintain the classic rustic splendor of leather jackets while taking it down a few notches in the ‘bad boy biker’ domain. In some sense, they come across as a little bit more modern, sophisticated, and approachable. While everyone knows that black is one of those colors that match well with almost anything, the tan leather jacket is much more versatile than people may initially think. You can style a tan leather jacket for casual, party and professional wear and they look great with jeans, shirts and t-shirts in a huge range of colors.

Different colors suit different people, so before you go out a splash the cash on a tan (or any other color) leather jacket, do a bit of self-investigation. Would a tan leather jacket suit your skin tone? Would it suit your personality? This is a good time to call in all forces and ask friends and family for an honest opinion, you could always consider asking a colour professional to do a full analysis, but this is not really necessary and the common eye is often good enough judgement.

In terms of which colors look good under a tan leather jacket, white, grey and black are always a safe bet. However, you don’t always need to keep it refined and safe, other dark shade colors like burgundy, navy blue and brown also strike as suave and elegant.

Likewise, with the bottom half, there are many roads one can take in terms of shape and color. With black jeans being the easiest, most reserved go-to style with a tan leather jacket, blue jeans are also a low-key option. Although, when considering blue jeans, It’s important to match shades, meaning if your tan leather jacket is on the darker side, it will match best with dark blue jeans, likewise, if it’s on the lighter side, it’ll match better with light blue jeans. Sometimes it’s difficult to visualize words on a page, so to get a better visualization check out this Pinterest.

When we think of ‘casual wear’, we immediately think of t-shirts, jeans, hoodies, and the like. Styling a tan leather jacket for casual wear is really a rather simple recipe. Keeping the previous section about colors in mind, t-shirts, sweaters and hoodies look great underneath the dominant glow of a tan leather jacket.

An easy trick for transforming a casual outfit into a slightly less casual outfit is to simply replace the tee for a proper shirt. A smart and respectable shirt under a quality leather jacket is an almost unbeatable combination.

You can consider your tan leather jacket a replacement for the usual blazer when dressing professionally. Wearing a button-up shirt underneath, with or without a tie is sufficiently professional for many business-causal environments. Don’t forget, you’ll most likely be indoors during your work hours and will be removing the jacket anyway.

Okay, so now you have your new leather jacket, maybe this is your first leather jacket and you’re realizing that there are new dimensions to caring for items of clothing. With leather jackets (and any leather products for that matter), the goal is longevity. We want to find a way to increase the lifespan of our jackets in terms of usability and look.

Seeing as leather is quite a hard, sturdy material, it inherits lines and creases from being in this position or that. While these lines and creases are not the end of the world, they can take a while to work themselves out, often leaving a permanent patch of micro lines. To avoid this, always hang your jacket rather than folding it or leaving it lying around in some arbitrary dark corner of your room. This is a small and simple trick, but it makes a great difference!

While leather is still semi-permeable, it isn’t as permeable as ordinary clothing materials like linen or cotton. So instead of throwing it in the washing machine (fatal mistake!), you can just use a clean dishcloth or sponge with a bit of soap to wipe the surface of the leather. This will clean away any dirt or impurities without threatening the well-being of the leather in any way. I find wiping down my leather products quite a relaxing and zen activity.

After cleaning away the speckles of dirt on the surface of your leather jacket, apply a leather conditioner. This adds a sort of protective shield to your leather jacket to defend against minor scratches and decoloration.

With these three simple and effective steps you can be confident that you’re doing the right thing by your leather. If you want to take things a step further, check out this detailed overview on caring for your leather.

At Independence Brothers, we believe that every leather jacket should be as individual and unique as the person wearing it. We try to steer away from the cult of homogeneous clothing by offering you the chance to design your own custom leather jacket. We offer this service for black leather and tan leather alike and want to give customers to bring their idea of an ideal leather jacket to life. Unlike many other leather jacket retailers, we specialize in the art of customization and are proud of our success and capabilities in this area.

Going custom allows you to design the item yourself, you have the power to choose and refine every detail as you would like it to be, not as someone else threw it together. Everything from the type of leather, the color, size, fit and style is yours to manipulate and maneuver to your liking. The end product of such a process is uniquely yours, you can be confident in knowing that you’ll never bump awkwardly into a guy wearing the very same jacket as you.

The only conceivable disadvantage of going custom instead of store buying a homogeneous retail leather jacket is that you can’t try it on before you buy it and you might not like the end product. An important thing to consider here is never to rush the design process. The responsibility is yours to make sure the measurements will suit you, so be careful about this and take your time. The other thing to consider is the prestige of the people making the jacket, the skill of the craftsman, the quality of the materials. At independent brothers we confidently say that we excel in all of these areas, it’s our specialty!

Leather jackets offer durability, personality and versatility to their owners and tan leather jackets are no exception. However, there is a material difference in the character of standard black leather and tan leather. Tan leather jackets are more low-key, mild and carry an air of subtle sophistication. The type of leather makes a difference, with full-grain leather being the most sought after (at independent brothers, this is our leather of choice). Color also makes a difference as different colors suit different people’s skin tones and personalities. For those who find that a tan leather jacket is the way to go, there are many ways to style it for casual, slightly less casual and professional wear. Promoting the longevity of your leather jacket is a simple and enjoyable process, and we reviewed storing, washing and conditioning to increase the lifespan. If you’re the creative type and can’t seem to find exactly what it is your looking for from retail leather jackets, you might consider going custom with Independence Brothers, we pride ourselves on our ability to create your ideal leather jacket that is individual to you, and tan leather jackets are no exception.